What is new in alternative/selfbuilt housing methods?

[Weedygarden]

Weedygarden is a hero in my book, I thought I have aches and pains........

Or a fool?

When I bought my house, I knew it needed work, lots of it, but for the price, it was a win. I was the lucky person who showed up after the neighbors were going to sue HUD because the previous 6 offers were declined because the buyers already owned homes, and HUD decided to sell the house for a really, really good price.

Growing up, because my parents were deceased, I spent time with both sets of grandparents as well as aunts and uncles. That was usually summers that I was at aunts and uncles. The rest of the time I was the servant to my grandparents.

So you take in your orphaned niece for a while, and what do you do with her? Put her to work! I helped paint the homes of some of them, as a child. Ever paint the upper exterior of a house from the front end loader on a tractor? I have done many things like that, because they thought I could. And that also has made me think I can do almost anything. I hire little out, except for electrical, plumbing and other trades work that I cannot do. If I could do it, I would.

All was okay until I fell down the cement stairs in college and hurt my back. I probably broke my tailbone, but the doctor never told me that. I feel it every day, some days more than others. I can be up and doing stuff, but I really have to pace myself.

 

[montanabill]

I just took my wife in for a bone density check.....non invasive.. They give you results with prognosis.....

 

[Aerindel]

These two quotes beg the question, why don't you hire others to help you with the construction?

Because people who make money for a leaving tend to be scum.

For instance.....

Is there any form of repairman more utterly corrupt and incompetent than a tire shop worker?

A few weeks ago, my wife's subaru developed a bad vibration between 30 and 50 MPH.

As it was -5º at the time, and the driveway was covered in snow and ice, and I thought MOST LIKELY the issue was something with a tire, I told her to take it to a tire shop and have it put up on a lift and checked.

She took it to Les Swab (I know...I know) and they said one of her tires had an internal separation and she needed new tires.

She took it to Costco, where she bought the tires for a second opinion, and they said it was an alignment issue, causing tire wear and she needed new tires.

She bought new tires.

Problem unchanged.

Once the weather was better, I got the car up on a lift, and in about 30 seconds, found this U-joint:

Tire shop employees......scum.

How can I possible trust anyone to work on a HOUSE?

 

[Haertig]

I imagine that tire shop employees know about tires and tire related things. But maybe not so much drive train things. Did you have the clunking that is a common hallmark of U-joint problems or just a vibration? Could it be possible that you have both tire and alignment problems IN ADDITION TO a bad U-joint? Did you replace the U-joint and find that all the problems went away? Including your uneven tire wear that is almost always due to misalignment to the best of my knowledge (not U-joints)?

Sorry you had these issues, but what did you expect when you took a car with drive train issues to a tire shop and reported a vibration? These guys are mostly very low level mechanics (if even that!) who are minimally trained to look for wheel balance issues, tire damage, and other things that would be in their shop's wheelhouse. A dirty spark plug can cause vibration too. Would you expect the tire shop to diagnose that?

Hopefully you got the car aligned after buying those new tires. Otherwise they'll be looking just like the old tires in short order.

The pronouncement that "anybody who makes money tends to be scum" is about the broadest of paint broad-brushing I've ever heard of. Everybody works to make money. Why else would you drag your a$$ into work to perform labor for someone else? You must really not trust anybody about anything. You are doomed to be a lifelong hermit. If that's what you want, fine. But don't blame it on everybody else being scum.

 

[Weedygarden]

Because people who make money for a leaving tend to be scum.

For instance.....

Is there any form of repairman more utterly corrupt and incompetent than a tire shop worker?

A few weeks ago, my wife's subaru developed a bad vibration between 30 and 50 MPH.

As it was -5º at the time, and the driveway was covered in snow and ice, and I thought MOST LIKELY the issue was something with a tire, I told her to take it to a tire shop and have it put up on a lift and checked.

She took it to Les Swab (I know...I know) and they said one of her tires had an internal separation and she needed new tires.

She took it to Costco, where she bought the tires for a second opinion, and they said it was an alignment issue, causing tire wear and she needed new tires.

She bought new tires.

Problem unchanged.

Once the weather was better, I got the car up on a lift, and in about 30 seconds, found this U-joint:

Tire shop employees......scum.

How can I possible trust anyone to work on a HOUSE?

View attachment 174769

There are many shops that have not good reputations. But there are great shops. I think the same is true for any work that you have done. You ask around and find out who is reputable.

 

[Aerindel]

Yeah, I don't trust you either. See you in hell.

Did you miss the part where THEY SAID IT WAS A TIRE?

THE DIDN"T SAY "WE DON"T KNOW" THEY SAID "WE KNOW, ITS THIS!"

 

[montanabill]

Yeah, I don't trust you either. See you in hell.

Did you miss the part where THEY SAID IT WAS A TIRE?

THE DIDN"T SAY "WE DON"T KNOW" THEY SAID "WE KNOW, ITS THIS!"

You need to use your indoor voice.,,,

What normal people do after spending $500 and not getting a problem fixed is immediately pull back in the shop and take the service manager for a ride and demonstrate the problem. Then if you don't want the new tires have the shop take them off and refund your money.

 

[Aerindel]

What normal people do after spending $500 and not getting a problem fixed is immediately pull back in the shop and take the service manager for a ride and demonstrate the problem.

$500? What year do you think it is? Tires haven't cost only $500 for a long time....unless you mean $500 each...luckily this isn't a truck so its not that quite that bad, but it's way more than $500 for a set of tires in the year of our lord 2025.

By the time I have the new driveshaft built, the tires plus the shaft this is going to cost more than I paid for the car.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Because people who make money for a leaving tend to be scum.

For instance.....

Is there any form of repairman more utterly corrupt and incompetent than a tire shop worker?

A few weeks ago, my wife's subaru developed a bad vibration between 30 and 50 MPH.

As it was -5º at the time, and the driveway was covered in snow and ice, and I thought MOST LIKELY the issue was something with a tire, I told her to take it to a tire shop and have it put up on a lift and checked.

She took it to Les Swab (I know...I know) and they said one of her tires had an internal separation and she needed new tires.

She took it to Costco, where she bought the tires for a second opinion, and they said it was an alignment issue, causing tire wear and she needed new tires.

She bought new tires.

Problem unchanged.

Once the weather was better, I got the car up on a lift, and in about 30 seconds, found this U-joint:

Tire shop employees......scum.

How can I possible trust anyone to work on a HOUSE?

View attachment 174769

I've been doing business with Les Schwab for 40+ years and have never had a problem with them. But then I know the difference between a bad tire and a worn U-joint.

 

[Aerindel]

I've been doing business with Les Schwab for 40+ years and have never had a problem with them. But then I know the difference between a bad tire and a worn U-joint.

So do I.....

I was just lazy and didn't want to crawl under the car in the snow and thought 'hey, I can afford it, lets just let them look at it'

And that is what I get for trusting someone else to try and solve my problems.

As for Les Swab....they are known here as "Let's Rob", most people won't even take their vehicles there, but I've had 'okay' luck with them in the past....as in they only ripped me off half the time instead of all the time and unlike my friends, I've never had to call the cops to get my car back from them.

Sure, they cost twice as much as most tire shops, but since they also do car repairs, I thought they would be a better bet for tracing down mechanical issues.

 

[Aerindel]

Anyway, its not about Lets Rob...or Costco (don't forget, they also lied to me)

Its about anytime I try to pay someone else, to do work....I get screwed....

The problem is that anyone dumber than me, I can't trust, because they are too stupid, and anyone smarter than my, I can't trust, because I'm not smart enough to know if they are lying to me or not, so at the end of the day, I'm the only one in the world qualified to do things for me, which extremely limits what I can do...so I have to be creative sometimes in how I get things done.

 

[montanabill]

Just for general info for others who want to take a active role in maintaining their own cars or trucks or are like me and don't want to spend the money....

The photo of the universal joint is a universal joint which can be easily rebuilt with parts from the cheap auto parts stores...you need a set of cheap metric wrenches a small screwdriver to get the clips out and ugly hammer and a drift... And a set of jack stands to hold the car up or as I do some rounds of firewood stuck under the car in case it falls off the jack.
As far as tires i recently bought a complete set of wheels with heavy duty multiply traction tires for my ten year old Honda pilot. Cost $500 ready to bolt on, so now I have two sets of good tires and wheels which should last my lifetime or the duration of the coming hard times......whichever takes longer.
Just a tip for dealing with businesses of almost any type....show up at about 10AM with the freshest dozen of donuts you can buy...the people remember you and sometimes the deals get better in your favor.

Now back to our regular programing dealing with building construction...

 

[Haertig]

By the time I have the new driveshaft built...

So you don't know if the new U-joint would have totally fixed the problem, since you haven't replaced it yet. You're speculating at this point.

Like I said - you many have more than one problem. You didn't say that you had any work done at Les Swab. It sounds like they just recommended new tires and your wife walked out. They don't owe you anything in that case. They gave you their opinion, you rejected their opinion. End of story. Now if you had paid Les Swab to do a diagnosis and repair, and that repair didn't work, then you might have reason to take it back to them and complain. Your original post didn't say anything about this being the scenario however - you said they just recommended new tires - which your wife declined to buy.

As far as saying Costco was wrong for recommending an alignment for uneven tire wear, that's just silly to criticize them for that. An alignment is how you fix the underlying problem that is causing uneven tire wear. And since you now have two shops that recommended new tires, maybe indeed you needed new tires? A bad U-joint does not prove that old worn out tires are still good. It's probably best that your wife replaced them. Hopefully with an alignment at installation time. That is pretty standard practice with new tires, especially if the old ones were worn unevenly.

Replace the U-joint. Maybe that in combination with new tires and an alignment will fix the problem. But if your car is worth as little as you say, it probably has many problems due to age and even the U-joint replacement may not get rid of all the vibration. When a new set of tires and a U-joint cost more than the car is worth, it may be time to consider replacing the car rather than blaming the mechanics trying to work on it.

 

[Aerindel]

The photo of the universal joint is a universal joint which can be easily rebuilt with parts from the cheap auto parts stores..

Negative. Its non-replaceable. It has no clips. As you could have clearly seen, if you looked at the picture. I have replaced half a dozen U-joints on older trucks, and normally it is easy and cheap, but this is a 2005 subaru, the newest vehicle I own.

I knew this going in, as years ago on a different subaru I had to replace a driveshaft as well.

I took this one it to a driveline shop to see if maybe THEY could replace them. I guess on some designs, they can mill out the staked in U joints and re-mill them to be replaceable, but this shaft uses tapered U joint caps and they can't even do that in this case.

So they are building a entirely new driveshaft for me, $650 dollars, should be done in a few days.

The driveline guy says that this is how MOST driveshafts are since about 2000. Even on trucks many are being made with shafts like this now.

I would be angry at the engineers, but, to be fair, it lasted 20 years, which isn't bad considering it wasn't greasable either.

 

[Aerindel]

you said they just recommended new tires - which your wife declined to buy.

Maybe you have trouble reading, but she bought the tires.....that is the entire problem. If we hadn't already spent near $1000 on new tires, I wouldn't care that much about being lied to by two tire shops.

 

[Aerindel]

As far as saying Costco was wrong for recommending an alignment for uneven tire wear, that's just silly to criticize them for that. An alignment is how you fix the underlying problem that is causing uneven tire wea

Again, what are you talking about? VIBRATION my man....the problem was VIBRATION. The alignment and tire wear story was a LIE.

Why are you bothering to reply if you don't even read the post you are replying to??

 

[Tirediron]

Negative. Its non-replaceable. It has no clips. As you could have clearly seen, if you looked at the picture. I have replaced half a dozen U-joints on older trucks, and normally it is easy and cheap, but this is a 2005 subaru, the newest vehicle I own.

Took it to a driveline shop to see if maybe THEY could replace them. I guess on some designs, they can mill out the staked in U joints and re-mill them to be replaceable, but this shaft uses tapered U joint caps and they can't even do that in this case.

So they are building a entirely new driveshaft for me, $650 dollars, should be done in a few days.

The driveline guy says that this is how MOST driveshafts are since about 2000. Even on trucks many are being made with shafts like this now.

I would be angry at the engineers, but, to be fair, it lasted 20 years, which isn't bad considering it wasn't greasable either.

why not just stake the u joints in like they did in the picture??

 

[Aerindel]

why not just stake the u joints in like they did in the picture??

I don't know. Like I said, driveline shop said it can't be done.....are you suggesting......I shouldn't have trusted them?

 

[Tirediron]

I don't know. Like I said, driveline shop said it can't be done.....are you suggesting......I shouldn't have trusted them?

they prolly won't do it due to liability, if they don't have the correct press or what ever, it is maybe less grief to just to build a new shaft, because the other end will be in need of replacement too

 

[Aerindel]

they prolly won't do it due to liability, if they don't have the correct press or what ever, it is maybe less grief to just to build a new shaft, because the other end will be in need of replacement too

Yes, I would have had all three joints done anyway if they were able to do it, as if this joint had failed so badly, I'm sure the rest can't be in that much better shape. I don't know if any of you guys can tell, but this is very very badly failed U joint, it came so far out of the cap, the needle bearings have all fallen out/broken.

When I go get the new shaft, because I don't trust these kinds of people, I'm taking the old shaft in, to make sure the very expensive replacement is actually a drop in, and maybe when I have it there in person, I can get him to show me EXACTLY why you can't replace these U joints.

But again, I don't resent it that much....kinda impressed really with a maintenance free, non-oil washed, moving part like this that can last 20 years, 211K miles.

If I hadn't just wasted nearly a $1k on tires I didn't need, I would just chalk this all up to normal car repair. I generally don't mind the cost to actually FIX something a on a car, its only the cost to ATTEMPT to fix it, that I resent.

 

[Haertig]

Maybe you have trouble reading, but she bought the tires.....that is the entire problem.

Your message quoted below was hard to interpret because it is broken into disjoint pieces. You said your wife went to Schwab, didn't follow their recommendation to buy new tires, and instead went to Costco, who also recommended new tires, so she bought the tires there at Costco. You can't honestly be mad at ("corrupt, incompetent, scum, Let's Rob") Schwab because your wife went and bought tires at Costco can you? Your rant against Schwab is quite misguided. They recommended, your wife refused, she went somewhere else - Schwab is totally out of the picture at this point.

So your wife drives over to Costco on the same (evidently worn out) tires that Schwab said should be replaced. And Costco confirms that those tires are indeed in need of replacement. Costco also evidently noted an uneven tread wear pattern on the tires and said that an alignment was recommended. And now you are ranting at Costco for confirming what was probably obvious in the first place, albeit not to your liking, and not diagnosing a drive train issue while ignoring the bad tires. Not diagnosing a drive train issue would not be an unexpected thing, given that they are a TIRE SHOP (just like Schwab) and not a general purpose mechanic shop. Especially when you yourself said at the outset that the problem was most likely a TIRE ISSUE.

If you had taken the car to a general purpose mechanic skilled in diagnosing various issues - rather than a tire store - you might still be merrily driving around on worn out tires. Chances are, that general purpose mechanic would have recommended replacing the tires as well, in addition to several other repairs that your car maybe needs. I wouldn't be surprised if in the end, you find that to fix your vibration you could need new tires, an alignment, new U-joints, turned brake rotors, new tie rod ends, repacked wheel bearings, and replacements for fouled spark plugs - all things that can easily cause "a vibration".

She took it to Les Swab (I know...I know) and they said one of her tires had an internal separation and she needed new tires.

She took it to Costco, where she bought the tires for a second opinion, and they said it was an alignment issue, causing tire wear and she needed new tires.

 

[Aerindel]

So your wife drives over to Costco on the same (evidently worn out) tires that Schwab said should be replaced. And Costco confirms that those tires are indeed in need of replacement. Costco also evidently noted an uneven tread wear pattern on the tires and said that an alignment was recommended.

Where do you keep getting this from? None of this is true. You are flat out making up things I didn't say.....a strange tactic given that everything I said is right here in black and white.

I don't blame them for not catching the U-joint....I blame them for both claiming it was the tires.....Les Swab, at least plausibly so, as I could see a tire suffering an internal separation that would only be noticed on a tire balancer. Costco just straight up invented a problem that wasn't even plausible as the problem. Although alignment can of course always be an issue, its never going to be an issue for vibration.

She bought tires at Costco, because that is where she first bought those tires, and they where still under warranty, so she was able to get them to accept the Les Swab diagnosis, and knock down the price of new tires, (as otherwise, she just would have gone back to Les Swab and bought them there)

Which I admit, slightly amuses me, since neither where right, but one, was willing to accept the wrong diagnosis, from the other at their expense....although by far, I was the one who paid the price for not doing all the work myself

 

[Tirediron]

Yes, I would have had all three joints done anyway if they were able to do it, as if this joint had failed so badly, I'm sure the rest can't be in that much better shape. I don't know if any of you guys can tell, but this is very very badly failed U joint, it came so far out of the cap, the needle bearings have all fallen out/broken.

When I go get the new shaft, because I don't trust these kinds of people, I'm taking the old shaft in, to make sure the very expensive replacement is actually a drop in, and maybe when I have it there in person, I can get him to show me EXACTLY why you can't replace these U joints.

But again, I don't resent it that much....kinda impressed really with a maintenance free, non-oil washed, moving part like this that can last 20 years, 211K miles.

If I hadn't just wasted nearly a $1k on tires I didn't need, I would just chalk this all up to normal car repair. I generally don't mind the cost to actually FIX something a on a car, its only the cost to ATTEMPT to fix it, that I resent.

the reason will be that there is no indexing surface, they would also need special arbours for the press to get the old ones out, then it would be a nightmare to balance due to no index spots , really $ 600.00 isnt that bad of a price for a shaft with I am guessing a double card-an and 2 ? flange surfaces.

 

[Aerindel]

the reason will be that there is no indexing surface, they would also need special arbours for the press to get the old ones out, then it would be a nightmare to balance due to no index spots , really $ 600.00 isnt that bad of a price for a shaft with I am guessing a double card-an and 2 ? flange surfaces.

That makes sense.

One flange, the transmission side is a splined sleeve that goes directly into the transmission. Also has a pressed on center bearing that is fine, but like everything else, is 20 years old so would have needed replacing anyway.

No, its not a terrible price.....I mean, its three times what I could order one for, but I've had bad luck ordering car parts lately so I decided to just go with a brick and mortar shop so if they screw it up, at least I have a real person to talk to.

The last three big car parts purchases I bought "Guaranteed fit"......did not fit, and returns are prohibitively expensive when you are talking large car parts like entire exhaust systems. Luckily I can weld.

 

[Haertig]

Although alignment can of course always be an issue, its never going to be an issue for vibration.

While alignment rarely causes vibration itself, it does cause uneven tire wear, and uneven tire wear can cause vibration.

So uneven tire wear may technically be the CAUSE of vibration, but it is the SYMPTOM of alignment problems. If your objective is to debate, you argue over whether alignment is technically the cause. If your objective is to fix the car, you replace the bad tires AND do an alignment. Replacing the tires without doing an alignment is temporary relief from vibration that will only last until the underlying alignment problem destroys the new tires just like it did the old tires.

Costco just straight up invented a problem that wasn't even plausible as the problem.

100% incorrect. See above explanation.

 

[Aerindel]

So uneven tire wear may technically be the CAUSE of vibration, but it is the SYMPTOM of alignment problems. If your objective is to debate, you argue over whether alignment is technically the cause. If your objective is to fix the car, you replace the bad tires AND do an alignment. Replacing the tires without doing an alignment is temporary relief from vibration that will only last until the underlying alignment problem destroys the new tires just like it did the old tires.

Why do you keep trying to say the tires were destroyed?? How did you get that in your head?

Tires were not bad, in either scenario. Both places just wanted to sell me tires. Les Swab wanted to blame the problem on Costco's tires being defective.....Costco wanted to blame the problem on the alignment (to get out of warrantying the tires)

Both just wanted to sell me new tires....because that is how they make money, and because of the earlier mentioned factors, I didn't want to put in the work at the time, to find their lie.

Alignment may or not be bad, I will look into that after I replace the driveshaft, but if it is bad, is an unrelated problem, I'm only doing it, because its a good idea to do from time to time anyway, and especially when getting new tires.

This is dumb. I don't even know why you are in this thread at all, your first post completely failed to understand the question about building, and now you are arguing from a false flag position about 'tires' when tires are not the issue, the issue is that anyone who can make money off lying to you, will do it. Building a house, invites countless opportunities for a hired person, to lie, to make money. There is a reason 'Contractors' are known as some of the most corrupt workers in the world, although from recent experience, I think Tire shops are up there as well.